Wills, trusts, powers of attorney, multi-generational planning, and business succession — structured to avoid probate where possible, to withstand probate where necessary, and to hold together across the generations.
Estate planning is at its best when it disappears from view — executed without drama during a client’s lifetime, and implemented efficiently when needed. The firm’s approach is practical: match the legal instruments to the client’s actual family, actual assets, and actual goals, rather than offering a menu of standardized documents.
For most families, a well-drafted revocable living trust paired with a pour-over will, powers of attorney, and medical directives constitutes the foundation of a sound plan. The firm prepares these instruments with attention to Michigan-specific issues: Lady Bird deeds for residential real estate, joint ownership considerations, and beneficiary designations that coordinate with the overall plan rather than working against it.
Families with children from prior marriages, blended family obligations, or multi-generational planning concerns require more careful drafting than the standard templates allow. The firm structures trusts that provide for a surviving spouse while protecting assets for the children of a prior marriage, generation-skipping arrangements where appropriate, and marital trust structures that address both estate tax considerations and the client’s actual family circumstances.
For clients who own closely held businesses, the estate plan and the business succession plan must work together. The firm coordinates trust and estate planning with buy-sell agreements, entity structure, and management transition documents — drawing on the firm’s Business & Bankruptcy practice where the transactional questions require it.
Durable powers of attorney (financial), patient advocate designations (medical), and HIPAA authorizations are often the most-used documents in any estate plan. The firm prepares these carefully, pays attention to the authority granted, and updates them as family circumstances change.
Many clients come to the firm with plans drafted years ago that no longer reflect their circumstances — the children have grown, the assets have changed, the original trustee is no longer appropriate. The firm reviews existing plans and either amends them or, where a comprehensive restatement is cleaner, rebuilds the plan from the current document forward.
A good estate plan is an act of imagination performed by the person best positioned to imagine well: the client themselves, advised by someone who has seen what happens when the imagination fails.
The firm handles new matters on a consultative basis. Call the office, or reach us through the contact form on our main page.